IP Library Granted Patent US 11,498,878
Granted Patent B2
US 11,498,878 · App. 16/078,182 · Granted Nov 15, 2022

Copper-ceramic composite

Inventors: Kai Herbst (Erlangen, DE); Christian Muschelknautz (Darmstadt, DE); Alexander Rogg (Trabitz, DE)
Assignee: HERAEUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH & CO. KG
C04B37/021H05K1/0204H05K1/0306H05K1/09C04B2235/78C04B2235/781C04B2235/785C04B2235/786C04B2235/788C04B2237/343C04B2237/407C04B2237/704C04B2237/706H05K2201/10287Y10T428/12056
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,498,878
App. No.
16/078,182
Granted
Nov 15, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

The invention relates to a copper-ceramic composite, comprising a ceramic substrate, which contains aluminum oxide, a coating on the ceramic substrate made of copper or a copper alloy, wherein the aluminum oxide has an average grain form factor R a (Al 2 O 3 ), determined as an arithmetic average value from the form factors of the grains of the aluminum oxide, the copper or the copper alloy has an average grain form factor R a (Cu), determined as an arithmetic average of the form factors of the grains of the copper or copper alloy, and the average grain form factors of the aluminum oxide and copper or copper alloy meet the following condition: 0.5≤R a (Al 2 O 3 )/R a (Cu)≤2.0.

Claims (28)

1. A copper-ceramic composite comprising:

a ceramic substrate containing grains of aluminum oxide,

a coating composed of copper or a copper alloy present on the ceramic substrate, wherein

the grains of the aluminum oxide each have a maximum diameter d K max , a diameter d K,ortho running perpendicular to d K,max , determined on half the length of d K,max , and a shape factor R K (Al 2 O 3 )=d K,ortho /d K,max and the aluminum oxide has an average grain shape factor R a (Al 2 O 3 ), determined as arithmetic mean of the shape factors R K (Al 2 O 3 ) of the grains of the aluminum oxide,

the grains of the copper or of the copper alloy each have a maximum diameter d K,max , a diameter d K,ortho running perpendicular to d K,max , determined on half the length of d K,max , and a shape factor R K (Cu)=d K,ortho /d K,max and the copper or the copper alloy has an average grain shape factor R a (Cu), determined as arithmetic mean of the shape factors R K (Cu) of the grains of the copper or of the copper alloy,

where the average grain shape factors of the aluminum oxide and of the copper or the copper alloy satisfy the following condition:

0.5≤R a (Al 2 O 3 )/R a (Cu)≤2.0,

wherein the coating composed of copper or a copper alloy is applied to the ceramic substrate by a direct copper bonding (DCB) process, the DCB process comprising:

oxidizing a copper foil to form a copper oxide layer on the copper foil;

laying the copper foil with the copper oxide layer on the ceramic substrate;

heating the ceramic substrate and copper foil with the copper oxide layer to a temperature ranging from 1025° C. to 1083° C.; and

cooling the heated ceramic substrate and copper foil with the copper oxide layer to room temperature.

2. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the copper or the copper alloy has grain sizes ranging from 10 μm to 300 μm.

3. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum oxide has grain sizes ranging from 0.01 μm to 25 μm.

4. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the average grain shape factor of the aluminum oxide to the average grain shape factor of the copper or of the copper alloy is in the range of 0.75-1.50.

5. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic substrate contains the aluminum oxide in an amount of at least 65% by weight.

6. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the coating composed of copper or a copper alloy at least partly has structuring to form electrical contact areas.

7. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the coating composed of copper or a copper alloy has a thickness in the range of 0.2-1.2 mm over at least 70% of its area; and the ceramic substrate has a thickness in the range of 0.2-1.2 mm over at least 70% of its area.

8. A module containing at least one copper-ceramic composite according to claim 1 and one or more bond wires.

9. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the coating composed of copper or a copper alloy has a thickness in the range of 0.2-1.2 mm over at least 70% of its area.

10. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic substrate has a thickness in the range of 0.2-1.2 mm over at least 70% of its area.

11. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the copper or the copper alloy has grain sizes ranging from 15 μm to 250 μm.

12. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the copper or the copper alloy has grain sizes ranging from 20 μm to 210 μm.

13. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum oxide has grain sizes ranging from 0.3 μm to 23 μm.

14. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum oxide has grain sizes ranging from 0.5 μm to 20 μm.

15. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the average grain shape factor of the aluminum oxide to the average grain shape factor of the copper or of the copper alloy is in the range of 0.80-1.20.

16. The copper-ceramic composite of claim 1 , further comprising copper-aluminum spinels between the ceramic substrate and the coating.

17. The copper ceramic composite of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic substrate and copper foil with the copper oxide layer are heated to a temperature ranging from 1065° C. to 1083° C.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2024
From: HERAEUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH & CO. KG
To: HERAEUS ELECTRONICS GMBH & CO. KG
Reel/Frame 068409/0258 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 21, 2018
From: HERBST, KAI; MUSCHELKNAUTZ, CHRISTIAN; ROGG, ALEXANDER
To: HERAEUS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH & CO. KG
Reel/Frame 046642/0900 →